Marcos Roberto de Almeida and three others were convicted in February 2024 by the São Paulo court for criminal association and money laundering
A joint action between the Federal Police and Lucha’s Special Fuerza against El Crimen, arrested on Friday (16), Marcos Roberto de Almeida, the Tuta, appointed as one of the main leaders of (CCP). He was on the run and was officially arrested for the use of a fake document in the city of Santa Cruz de la Sierra. In 2020, Tuta was appointed as the main leadership of the CCP outside the prison and was already called ‘New Marcola’ by prosecutor Lincoln Gakya, a specialist in the fight against the criminal faction.
His identity was confirmed biometrically on Saturday morning (17). The corporation’s connection officer in Santa Cruz de la Sierra negotiates the procedures to extradite the criminal to Brazil. “The individual remains in the custody of the Bolivian authorities, awaiting confirmation of their identity and the legal procedures that may result in their expulsion or extradition to Brazil,” the Federal Police said in their official statement on Friday night. According to the corporation, Tuta is on Interpol’s red diffusion list, “which motivated the intensification of efforts for its location and capture.”
Tuta and three others were convicted in February 2024 by the São Paulo court for criminal association and money laundering. Of the four, he was the only one who was on the run and was not serving the penalty of 12 years and six months in prison. The conviction occurred after a complaint of the State Public Prosecution Service (MP-SP) under Operation Sharks. The group would have moved more than $ 1 billion for the CCP. Tuta was the subject of a request for custody in September 2023, but was not found. A later investigation, which gained strength after the death of whistleblower Antonio Vinícius Gritzbach last year, pointed out that military police officers would have received money to prevent Tuta’s arrest – he would be on the list of information beneficiaries about leaked operations in advance by police.
According to the PM Paulista Corregedoria, the CCP was able to infiltrate the route (Ostensive Rounds Tobias de Aguiar) and other units of the corporation. According to the MP-SP, Tuta occupied the function of “final tuning of the street”, being responsible for controlling the faction sectors linked to drug trafficking. He was accused of laundering trafficking with the rental of a high standard house in Santana do Parnaíba, the purchase of two houses in Peruíbe, the acquisition of three properties in Sao Paulo, as well as the purchase of a farm in Araçatuba and apartments in Santos.
Posted by Luisa Cardoso
*With information from Estadão Content
